ISTE 2011 begins: Hello from Philadelphia

Another year has passed, and it's time once again for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference. I've been to several ISTE conferences (many when it was known as NECC), and each one leaves me feeling overwhelmed, enthusiastic, and frustrated.
Overwhelmed? With hundreds of vendors and sessions and posters and playgrounds, it's impossible to cover it all in a few days. Fortunately, ISTE has an iPhone app that allows me to select a few sessions during each time slot so that if one is full, I have a backup plan. More and more of the sessions are BYOL (bring your own laptop), and those must be reserved in advance. Those are my FAVORITES!

Enthusiastic? Oh, gosh! So many websites, applications, people willing to share what they do--I can't help but be recharged. There's always someone with far more technology than we have in our district (and that's when I get technology-envy), but there are also those with far less who still manage to do remarkable things.

Frustrated? You bet. How can I share this with all of you who can't be here? You'd LOVE this stuff.

So, as I have done before, I'm going to write about the highlights of the conference. Sometimes I might just give you are URL to check out. Other times, I'll share some of the discussion or commentary. If you see something interesting, let me know. Perhaps we can work together on getting this going in your classroom or at your school. It doesn't start with me, you know. It starts with you. :-)

Tech Talk's March Talk Back Question

A recent article in the Huffington Post (Jan. 24, 2011) caught our attention. Shaun Johnson, an assistant professor of elementary education, asked this question: What if we treated doctors the way we treat teachers? His thought-providing parable prompts us to ask you:

In our data-driven world, what technology tools have actually been most beneficial to you in your efforts to meet the needs of your students?

Instructions for Commenting: To add your response, simply click the word Comment below this box.

•(Review any comments already posted on the left-side of the page.)
•Type your response into the box on the right-side.
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Tech Talk's December/January Talk Back Question

Imagine this: Santa appears at your classroom door with a gift certificate for $100 to purchase a technology-related item for your classroom. First, what would it be, and second, how would you use it?

One lucky commenter will have his or her Christmas wish fulfilled! The winner will be selected from all eligible entries posted by Dec. 17, 2010, at 5:00 PM.

Eligible comments . . .

• Must clearly identify poster as certified teacher employed by the St. Mary Parish School Board.
• Must answer both questions listed above (one comment per participant, please).
• Should be creative, thoughtful, bold, unusual, well-written—make your entry outstanding!

If you need a fast review, the October and November TalkBack posts on this blog (see menu on right) include commenting instructions. Remember, your comments will not appear right away. Be patient, and don’t resubmit!

Tech Talk's November TalkBack Question

After reading the Top Five Tech Myths, what is your reaction?  Are there other barriers to using technology in the classroom that weren't mentioned in the article?  

(NOTE: If you are on this page, you have taken the first step toward Web 2.0 fluency--you have visited a blog! Now, take the next step--write a response or AT LEAST take the survey. It's easy and relatively painless once you take that first step.)

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Survey Results - GlowDay.com

Tech Talk's October TalkBack Question

What is the best technology-supported lesson you have ever used in the classroom?

Teachers don’t often have the opportunity to visit other classrooms and other schools, so we are sometimes unaware of great things going on across the district. Remember that day when everything worked and your students were so excited about the technology and the lesson? Please share that day with us. We’ll be glad you did!

To add your success story, simply click the word "comment" below this box.

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Your comment WILL NOT appear right away. We are using the Moderate feature which requires us to review your submission and release it if it is appropriate, which we are sure it will be. This tool prevents advertisers from trying to post unrelated comments. Your comment should appear within an hour or so.

Thanks in advance for sharing your story about successful classroom technology integration. We look forward to reading your comments!

Quick Poll

Survey Results - GlowDay.com

ISTE 2010--Tuesday Afternoon

After a delicious lunch provided by the folks at SchoolCenter, I attended another BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop) session called "Getting Your Message Across: Exploring New Online Website Editors." Anastasia Treckles and Helen Jancich of Purdue University at Calumet shared several tools for publishing online that they discovered in part through their students in an Instructional Technology masters degree program.

• SquareSpace (http://www.squarespace.com/): Free for a 14 day trial, SquareSpace has an iPhone/iPad app that allows mobile updating; it can also aggregate data from social networks, and the display adjusts for small screens.

• Google Sites (http://sites.google.com/ ): If you have a Gmail account, you can easily start a free Google site. The interface is not really intuitive, but there are lots of training videos to support the site. Recently, blog functionality has been added, as well as the ability to create forms (linked to Google Docs spreadsheet). Many gadgets are available to add to your site.

• Wix.com (http://www.wix.com/ ) This site offers free flash-based website creation; it give your web designs a more modern look. There are no ads, even on the free version, but a Wix bar appears at the bottom of each page. Because it is flash-based, it won't work on Apple devices, and it may require more virtual memory during editing. These sites are not ADA compatible since reading devices are not supported, so you might want to add a print-off if this is an issue.

• Doodlekit.com (http://www.doodlekit.com/): Doodlekit includes photo album options and blog capabilities, as well as discussion board and shopping cart add-ons for a fee. However, the site appears to have problems on Apple devices, and there are reports of crashes in Firefix and Safari. There are a few ads in the free version.

• Jotform (http://www.jotform.com/ ): Jotform supports the creation of simple forms to collect data; results are emailed to the specified email address. Even the free account allows for the storage of forms you have used.

• Prezi (http://www.prezi.com/ ): This site provides users with the ability to create and store animated presentations by establishing a timeline to focus attentions on images, words, or sentences on each slide. Using the keyword search, users can also view and download shared presentations. There is also a fee-based desktop download that allows offline edition. Selecting the educational use option provides users with free downloading and more storage.

These sites can be used for student portfolios, for storing presentations, for connecting with parents, for organizing events, and even for limited online collaboration. Although some sites offer Web 2.0 features like blogging, these are not social networking sites, and student identities can be protected.

ISTE 2010--Tuesday Morning

This morning started early with a breakfast hosted by Learning.com with guest speaker Dr. Patricia Agatston, co-author of Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age. Her presentation was very impressive and research-based. Dr. Agatston focused on online high-risk behaviors, which she directly correlated to face-to-face high risk behaviors. She also stressed teaching positive online behaviors rather than using scare tactics as a means of reaching most students. As an attendee at this session, I will be receiving a video of her presentation, which I will share with you if you request it. I actually prefer this methodology, which is part of Learning.com's EasyTech Online Safety component to the material offered by iSafe, but I will be checking out the curriculum today when I visit the company's Exhibition Hall booth.

After breakfast, I popped into a Promethean instructional session, one of the many being offered every half hour here. McGraw-Hill has joined with Promethean to provide digital math support for K-6, with 7-12 coming in the fall. CINCH Mathematics provides options for teacher planning, as well as home access for student support. This math program looks like the direction that instruction is taking and is available on a subscription basis.

The CINCH program creates slides for instruction based on a teacher's selections, provides onscreen manipulatives, allows integration of Promethean software options and inclusion of other online resources such as videos or other websites--all in a seamless presentation that does not require a teacher to open a new window or leave the site. The goal is to present a chunk of information and then provide an opportunity for formative assessment (using ActiVotes or ActivExpressions) to allow the teacher to determine if he or she should continue or reteach a section. After a day's lesson, a teacher can customize an online session or homework assignment based on the student responses, individualizing assignments down to each student's needs.

Finally, since CINCH allows teacher to combine elements from different traditional textbook chapters, CINCH provides customizable subtopic quizzes that can be printed or completed online. They will also be adding tests that can be completed using ActiVotes or Expressions in the upcoming months, as well as adding more interactive activities to the CINCH slides.

Tuesday Morning's Site Suggestion: coming soon